Friday, June 24, 2011

While the United States is seeing huge drops in the abuse of cocaine and other drugs we are seeing a massive spike in prescription drug abuse rates. The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) reports that the abuse of prescription opioids and synthetic drugs are on the rise globally, while worldwide markets for cocaine, heroin and marijuana have declined or remained stable. How strange that it would end up being legal prescription drugs acquired in pharmacies across the country that has sparked the largest drug epidemic this country has ever seen.

“The global drug threat has not diminished,” Yury Fedotov, Executive Director of UNODC, said in a UN news release. Every year drug consumption has its hand in about 200,000 deaths worldwide according to the report.

There have clearly been huge declines in cocaine use, the U.S. remains the largest cocaine market with an estimated 36 percent of global consumption, the report showed.

In a news release, Gil Kerlikowske, Director of National Drug Control Policy, said “Today’s report confirms that comprehensive efforts to reduce drug use and its consequences have a tremendous impact on making our communities healthier and safer. Confronting the global drug problem – including the prescription drug abuse epidemic – is a shared responsibility that requires a sustained and comprehensive approach. It is not a job for law enforcement alone. That is why the United States is engaged in an unprecedented effort to emphasize drug prevention and expand access to treatment to supporting enforcement efforts that disrupt drug trafficking.”